General Election 2015: Labour brushes off talk of an SNP alliance

Billy Ehrenberg is a Data Journalist and Content Developer at City A.M. He can be contacted at billy.ehrenberg@cityam.com. He is particularly passionate about data visualisation and telling stories with numbers.

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Ed Balls and Jim Murphy show they're in touch with popular culture (Source: Getty)

Shadow chancellor Ed Balls has moved to play down rumours that Labour could form a post-election alliance with the Scottish National Party.

Labour didn’t, however, deny the plan but Balls did say that a deal with the SNP was not high up the Labour wish list. Speaking during a visit to Scotland Balls said: “It is not part of our plan; it’s not what we want.”

Despite the fact many commentators are calling the election result as a hung parliament, both the Conservatives and Labour have been keen to show they are fighting for a majority.

Reporters in Edinburgh were quick to pounce on the absence of an outright denial, and Balls and Jim Murphy, the head of Scottish Labour, faced tough questioning. Balls said:

The idea of coalition now at Westminster is pretty unpopular and the Lib Dems are really, really unpopular. So there’s no enthusiasm for this kind of discussion with the Liberal Democrats or the SNP; that’s why we’re fighting to get a majority.

The issue is going to be having a Labour plan or a Tory plan. If you vote SNP and let the Tories in, you will get the Tory plan.

When pushed, Murphy said that Labour expected no deal or arrangement with the SNP.

The facts speak for themselves however. Recent polling has suggested Labour faces a day at the gallows in Scotland, and could lose as many as 20 seats.